ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KESAR SI&#7748GH (1875-)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="KESAR,SIDGH,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279KESAR SI&#7748GH (1875-), one of the leading organizers and first vice-president of the Hindust&#257n&#299 Association of the Pacific Coast (of the United States), more commonly known as the <u>Gh</u>adr Party. Born in 1875, he was the son of Bh&#363p Si&#7749gh and came from the village of &#7788ha&#7789ga&#7771h, in Amritsar district. He served for two years in a cavalry regiment in India before going to Shanghai in 1902 where he worked as a watchman. In 1909, he emigated to the United States and settled in Astoria (Oregon), where he was employed in a lumber-mill.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Early in 1912, an organization known as the Hindust&#257n&#299 Association was formed in Portland (Oregon) to look after the interests of Indians in the United States. Kesar Si&#7749gh was elected president of the branch established in Astoria and deputed to invite Har Day&#257l, a noted revolutionary, to come from Berkeley, California, to meet the various branches of the Association. Har Day&#257l accepted the invitation and was the principal speaker at meetings held in several parts of Oregon state. During this time the Hindust&#257n&#299 Association of the Pacific Coast was founded. In addition to being elected vice-president, Kesar Si&#7749gh was named a member of the fund raising committee of the central organization. He also served as president of the Astoria branch. He later went to San Francisco and assisted in the setting up of a press at the Yug&#257ntar &#256shram where the Association's newspaper, <i><u>Gh</u>adr</i>, was published.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kesar Si&#7749gh was one of the participants in the meeting of the <u>Gh</u>adr Party held at the Yug&#257ntar &#256shram in August of 1914 when it was decided to exhort all Indians to return to India to make an armed rebellion against the British. He left for his native land at the end of that month, having been designated, according to later testimony at the first Lahore conspiracy trial, as "one of those whose instructions were to be followed." On the voyage he addressed the passengers on several occasions to sustain their ardour. Reaching Hong Kong, Kesar Si&#7749gh lectured to gatherings at the Gurdw&#257r&#257 and took part in meetings with other groups of <u>Gh</u>adrites who had arrived by different ships. He was elected a member of the central committee which was to plan action in India. En route from Hong Kong, Kesar Si&#7749gh attempted to win over the troops at Penang, and when his ship was held over because of the activities of its passengers, he was one of the delegation which called upon the Governor of the State to have the ship released. When he arrived in India, he was declared to be a "dangerous" person under the Ingress Ordinance of 1914 and was interned in jail. Tried in the first Lahore conspiracy case (1915), he was convicted and sentenced to death, with forfeiture of property. Although he refused to petition for mercy, his sentence was commuted to transportation for life by the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kesar Si&#7749gh is said to have been taken ill after Independence and was admitted to a hospital in Amritsar from where, according to some reports, he "disappeared and never returned."</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Jas, Jaswant Si&#7749gh, <i>Desh Bhagat B&#257be</i>. Jalandhar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Deol, G.S., <i><u>Gh</u>adar P&#257r&#7789&#299 ate Bhar&#257t d&#257 Qaum&#299 Andolan</i>. Amritsar, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Sainsar&#257, G.S., <i><u>Gh</u>adr P&#257r&#7789&#299 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Jalandhar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> N&#257har Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Az&#257d&#299 d&#299&#257&#7749 Lahir&#257&#7749</i>. Ludhiana, 1960<BR> <li class="C1"> Mathur, J.P., <i>Indian Revolutionary Movement in the United States of America</i>. Delhi, 1970<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh Deol<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>